Industry and Trade sector forecast to fulfil all set targets for 2019

The assessment was made after the ministry thoroughly considered the sector’s achievements in the first 11 months of the year, as well as assessing the ability of each specific item, group and field.

Specifically, the Index of Industrial Production is forecast to increase by about 9-10%, while the added value of the whole industry would increase by 8.88-9%, reaching the set target.

Regarding the domestic market, total retail sales of social goods and revenue from consumer services for the whole year are expected to reach over VND4.9 quadrillion, up from 11.6-12% compared to 2018, again reaching the set target.

Notably, the import-export field have various encouraging signs. According to the MOIT’s Agency of Foreign Trade, with a high trade surplus of US$9.12 billion in 11 months, 2019 is expected to be the fourth consecutive year that Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus.

In the past 11 months of the year, export turnover reached US$241.7 billion, up 7.9% over the same period last year, while import turnover reaching US$230.7 billion, up 6.6% year on year. Total import-export turnover reached about US$472 billion for the 11-month period.

With the current progress (total monthly import-export turnover at about US$47 billion), Vietnam's total import-export turnover would exceed US$500 billion in the second half of December 2019, after only two consecutive years setting a milestone of US$400 billion in foreign trade turnover.

In addition, import and export activities are likely to achieve the set target of 7-8% growth, while trade deficit has been kept under control at below 3% of total export turnover.

Along with that, the import-export scale continues to be expanded with 32 items enjoying export turnover at over US$1 billion.